☕️ Canva Cartel

Good morning.

Will Canva’s impending secondary share sale, reported to be worth around US$1.5 billion ($2.27 billion), see a slew of cash-rich, highly-qualified startup execs enrich Australia’s startup scene?

While many are optimistic that Canva alumni will re-enter the landscape as founders with new ideas and capital to boot, Capital Brief reports that conservative Australian inclinations might mean we miss out on the local variation of the PayPal Mafia, the Canva Cartel.

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Market movers

Shares in regional operator Rex Airlines rose over 4% to $0.83 during trading yesterday, on news that it has agreed to a new interline partnership with UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways. The deal marks the second interline agreement for Rex, which has an existing interline arrangement with US-based Delta Air Lines. Rex said that the partnership will connect passengers on its domestic routes with convenient connections to Etihad's global network, and will allow customers to book connecting flights under one booking as well as leveraging through-check baggage.

The quick sync

• Where most Australian banks are retreating, ANZ and Macquarie have figured out how to make money in Asia. (Capital Brief)

• Founders of Loom, who sold to Atlassian for a $790m discount, believe there is another “two to three years of pain” before the reset arrives. (AFR)

• Iron ore prices had been faring well despite China’s slowing economy, but a period of sustained weakness may in the pipeline for Australia’s most lucrative export. (Capital Brief)

• Dovetail has suffered a dramatic exodus of senior staff, including a founder, amid a “pretty hectic culture clash.” (AFR)

• A legal battle has broken out between Aristocrat and Light & Wonder over intellectual property and poaching of company developers tied to a new game, Dragon Train. (The Australian)

M&A

• Future Super Group’s leadership has been actively exploring potential buyers for the company. (AFR)

• Investment banks are preparing for further divestment by GQG co-founder and CIO Rajiv Jain. (AFR)

• Blackstone is reportedly enlisting two investment banks for the possible acquisition of Airtrunk. (The Australian)

• Cameron Partners is actively seeking a buy-side advisory role by reaching out to potential bidders. (AFR)

• Qantm Intellectual Property confronts further disclosure scrutiny following reports of Adamantem Capital's non-binding indicative offer. (AFR)

• Choice Hotels International's attempt to acquire rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has ended. (Capital Brief)

• Trade Indy's founders and investors celebrate a $30m windfall as Sqreem Technologies acquires it completely. (AFR)

• Task Group's founders are poised to gain $114m from a $310m buyout offer by US competitor PAR Technology Corp. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• Lake Resources seeks a $20m injection through brokers Barrenjoey and Canaccord Genuity. (AFR)

• Reddit aims to raise $1.1b in one of this year's largest IPOs. (Capital Brief)

• Qantas, Airbus, and other investors have injected around $29m into Jet Zero Australia. (AFR)

• Uranium developer Deep Yellow plans to raise $250m. (Capital Brief)

VC

• Mark Woodland has secured a $12.5m seed round for his second startup, Kismet, with funding led by Prosus Ventures and AirTree Ventures. (AFR)

• David Southon has upped his investment in FLK It Over joining its second fundraising round. (AFR)

• Redback Technologies has entered voluntary administration. (Startup Daily)

• Nullify has raised $5.2m in seed funding for its security bot, led by Two Sigma Ventures and Root Ventures. (Smart Company)

• Abu Dhabi unveils investment firm, MGX, targeting deals in AI and semiconductors that it hopes will exceed US$100b in AUM in the coming years. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• Touch Ventures CEO Hein Vogel has announced his resignation after four and a half years. (BNA)

• Wall Street banks are poised to pursue top-performing talent from local rivals as challenging market conditions continue. (The Australian)

• CEO Jay Albany has stepped down from his position at Wide Open Agriculture. (BNA)

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The watercooler